IFPRI Supports Low Carbon Agriculture in a Green Economy
10 July 2013: An article from Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and IFPRI Senior Research Analyst Tolulope Olofinbiyi, makes the case for low carbon agriculture as a response to rising incomes and demand, and growing resource constraints.
The article for the Climate Action Programme of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), titled 'Low Carbon Agriculture,' calls for: integrating food and nutrition security into sustainable development; pricing the real costs for food and natural resources; providing technical and financial support to design national strategies; and engaging new actors, such as the private sector.
It describes the impacts of climate change on crop production and underscores that developing countries are predicted to experience the most significant climate impacts. It argues that agriculture needs to be part of the mitigation solution but calls for pro-poor low carbon investments that benefit smallholder farmers and women.
The article notes that the shift to a green economy must take into consideration low-carbon agriculture, integrated approaches to development and food security, new approaches to evaluate cross-sectoral impacts; greater investment in supporting national capacity; and engagement of new actors, such as the private sector.